The fruits of a $1.5 million construction and renovation contract the diocese awarded to Fulton/Coastcon Construction

Diocese has more to teach

128 freshmen have enrolled at new Catholic school

By Israel Saenz Caller-Times
July 31, 2006

Wearing a T-shirt, shorts and sandals, Ricardo Almendarez spent part of his Sunday afternoon showing his wife an empty but soon-to-be bustling campus.

"We still have time to do some last-minute things," the John Paul II High School principal said. "As principal, you worry a little."

Even for the 61-year-old Almendarez, who has served as principal at Browne Middle School, Moody and King high schools and the Alternative High School, this will be a first.

He will be the inaugural principal for the Diocese of Corpus Christi school, which will welcome 128 freshmen on Tuesday with a celebration of Mass by Bishop Edmond Carmody and the unveiling of a John Paul II statue.

For Almendarez and teachers, a few loose ends needed to be taken care of as opening day grew near. Teachers spent last week and all day Saturday preparing classrooms for the first day of classes. Workers were setting up a few classrooms Sunday as well.

Almendarez said renovations on some of the rooms started later than on others because the diocese had not expected to attract a full class.

"We thought maybe about 75 students would be enrolled," he said. "After about two months, we noticed it was going to be more than we anticipated, so we decided to do all of them."

Work was originally set for only six classrooms, which became all 10 available on the campus. Almendarez said the remaining rooms will be ready by Wednesday.

For math teacher Stephanie Fling, spending eight hours on campus to set up computers and take inventory Saturday was not enough. She kept her spirits up as she cleaned her classroom on Sunday.

"It's gonna be history," Fling said of the school's opening.

The John G. and Marie Stella Kenedy Memorial Foundation has committed $2.5 million to the school to go toward operations and scholarships in the next four years. The diocese has budgeted $600,000 per year for operations.

The fruits of a $1.5 million construction and renovation contract the diocese awarded to Fulton/Coastcon Construction was visible on the 64-acre campus that also features a gymnasium and a chapel. There are plans to re-sod the interior campus grounds.

John Paul II High School, named after the pontiff who died in April 2005, will be the diocese's first Catholic high school since Corpus Christi Academy, which closed in 1997 because of declining enrollment. The school joins Incarnate Word Academy as the only other Catholic high school in Corpus Christi.

So far, John Paul II High School's enrollment is on target, Almendarez said. He said the Diocese of Corpus Christi's goal was to bring in a freshman class of about 125 and work up to 500 students by the four-year point.

The school has a staff of 12 teachers, a secretary, registered nurse, librarian and chaplain. Some campus facilities are still in the works. Tennis courts should be completed sometime in August and a softball field will be ready in October.

With only a freshman class, John Paul II High School's sports teams will compete only against other high school's junior varsity teams for now. On Friday, the high school named four coaches for volleyball, basketball, tennis, track and football teams.

Almendarez, who ended his four-month long retirement to be the high school's first principal, said the school's mascot, the centurion, is especially relevant for the incoming class of freshman students. Centurions were Roman Empire army officers mentioned in Bible stories.

"Centurions had to work their way up in the army," Almendarez said. "That's our expectation for our ninth-graders."

Contact Israel Saenz at 886-3767